Congress has a big to-do list before it leaves for holidays
Government funding runs out Friday, Dec. 20, at midnight and there’s still no bill on the table for lawmakers to consider. Congress is going to have to pass a continuing resolution into 2025 to prevent a government shutdown.
However, once lawmakers leave at the end of the week, they’re not scheduled to return to Washington for the rest of 2024.
The temporary funding measure will last until mid-March. That means Republicans will have a trifecta in Washington when government funding for 2025 is finalized.
Congress is also on track to approve the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a bill lawmakers pass every year to fund the Defense Department. This year’s NDAA has an $895.2 billion price tag. It includes measures Democrats fought against, including a restriction on new diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as well as a ban on the Pentagon’s health insurance plan from covering gender dysphoria treatments for minors.
Democrats argued the provisions are unnecessary because, as commander-in-chief, President-elect Donald Trump wouldn’t allow those types of programs anyway.
Despite the controversial measures, 80 Democrats voted for the legislation when it passed the House. It’s unclear how many will vote for it in the Senate, but the legislation expected to get well over the 60 votesneeded for approval.
Finally, Congress needs to approve the Farm Bill, which sets food and farm policy for five years. The previous version expired in September. Just like government funding, lawmakers appear on track to provide a temporary remedy that lasts until 2025, when they’ll come up with a permanent solution.
The Farm Bill impacts everyone. There are products grown in America that cost more to produce than they can be sold for, so farmers rely on assistance from the government to make up for the losses. Without that help, it will impact the availability and price of those products.
SNAP food benefits for lower-income families are also approved within the Farm Bill, so that’s where lawmakers will make an increase in payments to help offset inflationary cost increases.
Apple, Google told to be prepared for TikTok ban on Jan 19
Congress is ordering Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores by Jan. 19. In a letter to the tech giants, lawmakers said they must comply with a soon-to-be-enacted law requiring parent company ByteDance to divest the video app or essentially be banned in the United States.
That law was signed by President Joe Biden in April 2024 and was upheld unanimously by an appeals court. It states marketplaces cannot distribute, maintain or update TikTok, effectively impacting both new and existing users.
If ByteDance decides to divest, the deal must be approved by the U.S. government. Additionally, the president can grant a 90-day extension if the company is making progress on a sale.
“Congress has acted decisively to defend the national security of the United States and protect TikTok’s American users from the Chinese Communist Party,” lawmakers said in a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Chew. “We urge TikTok to immediately execute a qualified divestiture.”
TikTok is considered a national security threat because parent company ByteDance is based in China, which has a law requiring companies to assist the government when asked. The Chinese Communist Party could require TikTok to distribute misinformation to its 170 million U.S. users, collect personal data on Americans or install malicious software on users’ cellphones.
TikTok argued in court that banning the app violates the First Amendment. The court ruled that the law actually protects free speech from a foreign adversary nation and limits that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States. The court rejected all of TikTok’s constitutional claims.
Anyone who already uses TikTok in the U.S. won’t lose access to it on Jan. 19, but they won’t be able to update the app anymore, which will eventually make it incompatible with their phone’s operating system and unworkable.
President-elect Donald Trump said he wants to prevent a TikTok ban but has not offered details as to how he would do that.
President-elect Donald Trump proposed Congress end the practice of daylight saving time. He said adjusting clocks twice a year is inconvenient and costly.
“The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate daylight saving time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t,” Trump posted to Truth Social.
The point of turning the clocks forward in March is to maximize the amount of sunlight that is available in the summer months. Some experts believe that more people go out, circulate and spend money after work when there is more evening light. Critics said the shifting of the clock decreases economic efficiency.
Longer days, as they are often called, are supposed to lead to less expensive electric bills. Opponents argued that the actual savings is not conclusive.
Some health experts believe that standard time is better for the body because it allows Americans to get more sleep and has a positive effect on their circadian rhythm. They argue that the time-shifting for DST disrupts the circadian rhythm. Standard time advocates also contend that more sunlight in the morning is better for mental health, as well as improves the focus of kids in school.
Daylight saving time has been a federal law since 1966. Hawaii and Arizona are the two states that do not observe it. There have been a couple of attempts to make the time change permanent in recent years. However, those attempts died in Congress.
Senate scheduled to work 5 days a week in 2025, a big increase in workload
The Senate is scheduled to be in session five days a week in 2025, an uncommon workload for lawmakers on Capitol Hill who typically work three to four days. The calendar was released by incoming Majority Leader John Thune who posted on X: “Get ready for work.”
“Most people in America need to work five days a week. I think we can up here,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told Straight Arrow News. “And technically it’s really only four and a quarter, because we’re coming in on Monday afternoon. So I think it’s good leadership on Thune’s part.”
As Tillis pointed out, even though the calendar says five days a week on paper, it will still only be about four total because lawmakers don’t arrive until Monday afternoon and they leave Friday morning.
“Anytime you add capacity, you add more potential, and we’re adding capacity,” Tillis said. “We’re adding 25% capacity in terms of working hours in the Senate that should produce productivity.”
Republicans have been critical of the 2024 schedule set by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, which had lawmakers in for five days only 13 times.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Conn., told SAN, it’s not all about time in the office, it’s about results.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good record on the infrastructure bill on the other measures to deal with COVID, I think there’s a solid record of accomplishment,” Sen. Blumenthal said. “And the American people measure the results of a Congress not by the amount of time they spend sitting at their desks or walking around the halls, but what the results are.”
One of the biggest priorities for the next Congress is getting appropriations done on time. Republicans hope to follow what is supposed to be the standard legislative process for funding the government, which involves passing 12 bills that each cover different departments.
President-elect Donald Trump and his border czar, Tom Homan, are preparing to execute a plan to deport the largest number of undocumented immigrants in U.S. history. As part of this effort, the topic of “Dreamers” has once again come to the forefront.
Dreamers, under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), are undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children with their families.
In most cases, Dreamers know only American life, as the U.S. is the country where they grew up. Former President Barack Obama signed an executive action for DACA. The action protected an estimated 800,000 undocumented immigrant children who entered the country illegally.
Over the weekend, Trump said he wants to work with Democrats on a plan for Dreamers.
“I will work with the Democrats on a plan, and if we can come up with a plan,” Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker. “But, the Democrats have made it very, very difficult to do anything. Republicans are very open to the Dreamers. The Dreamers, we’re talking many years ago, were brought into this country, many years ago. Some of them are no longer young people and, in many cases, they become successful. They have great jobs, in some cases, they have small businesses. In some cases, they might have large businesses and we’re going to have to do something with them.”
Welker asked, “You want them to be able to stay? That’s what you’re saying?”
“I do,” Trump responded. “I want to be able to work something out, and it should’ve been able to be worked out over the last three or four years, and it never got worked out.”
In 2017, Trump attempted to end DACA and called on Congress to address the issue. However, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the first Trump administration in 2020, ruling to keep DACA in place.
A series of lawsuits in the lower courts threaten to dismantle the program because Congress has not passed legislation to protect Dreamers.
In response to Trump’s comments, the senior political director of United We Dream, an immigrant advocacy group, issued the following statement:
“Trump and his terror team – including Stephen Miller and Tom Homan – mean it when they say no one is off the table when it comes to mass deportations. If Trump truly means otherwise, he will immediately call on his allies in Texas to drop the lawsuit against DACA and stop his mass detention and deportation agenda now. Until then, we will continue to shore up protections for our communities and demand elected officials at all levels show up to protect people in their community from Trump’s mass detention plans.”
Bruna Sollod, Senior Political Director of United We Dream
Homan, a staunch ally of Trump, agreed Congress needs to step up and pass immigration reform.
On Monday, Dec. 9, Homan told Fox News Congress could address Dreamers in a bipartisan immigration deal, including increased border security measures.
“Well look, the president in his first term put a plan on the table to address the Dreamers, and Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer shut it down because part of the plan was giving them money for the border wall,” Homan said. “So, President Trump will put it on the table again. But I would not go forward with it until the Democrats show this president that they’re willing to secure this border and willing to support him and the removal of public safety threats that are illegal here in the United States. So, it’s going to be put on the table once again. And I support the president in that idea.”
Trump said he wants to see Republicans and Democrats work together to pass immigration reform. He also stressed he would pressure Congress to reach an agreement.
Both Trump and Homan emphasized their first priority is to remove dangerous, criminal migrants from the streets and return them to their home countries.
Manchin, Welch introduce constitutional amdt to limit SCOTUS justice terms
Sens. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., have introduced a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would limit Supreme Court justices to 18-year terms, with a new term beginning every two years. Manchin, who is retiring at the end of this year, and Welch, argue that the current lifetime appointment system for Supreme Court justices has led to “polarizing confirmation battles” and diminishing public trust in the judiciary.
“The current lifetime appointment structure is broken and fuels polarizing confirmation battles and political posturing that has eroded public confidence in the highest court in our land,” Manchin said in a statement posted on his website. “Our amendment maintains that there shall never be more than nine justices and would gradually create regular vacancies on the court, allowing the president to appoint a new justice every two years with the advice and consent of the United States Senate.”
According to Manchin’s website, the proposed amendment would not affect the tenure of current sitting justices. They would still be able to serve their lifelong appointments or retire as they see fit.
If a current justice retires or dies, the amendment would establish a transition period to maintain regular vacancies on the court. Starting every two years, new justices would be appointed to 18-year terms, regardless of when a vacancy opens.
When a justice retires, their replacement would serve the rest of the next 18-year term. The total number of justices would remain unchanged.
“Taking action to restore public trust in our nation’s most powerful court is as urgent as it is necessary,” Welch said in a statement. “Setting term limits for Supreme Court justices will cut down on political gamesmanship and is commonsense reform supported by a majority of Americans. I’m proud to lead this effort with Senator Manchin that will restore Americans’ faith in our judicial system.”
Currently, Supreme Court justices serve for life and remain on the bench until they either retire or become incapacitated. A constitutional amendment would be required to change the lifetime appointment system.
In order to pass the amendment, both the House and Senate would need to approve it with a two-thirds majority. Additionally, three-quarters of U.S. states must ratify the amendment for it to be enacted.
Manchin emphasized the need for legislative action, calling on his colleagues to “restore faith in our judicial system.”
House Republicans block release of Matt Gaetz ethics report
Republicans block efforts by their Democratic colleagues to release the House Ethics Committee’s report on its investigation into former Congressman Matt Gaetz. And the manhunt continues for the gunman in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Dec. 6, 2024.
House Republicans block release of Matt Gaetz ethics report
The House Ethics Committee’s report on its investigation into former Congressman Matt Gaetz will not be made public — at least for now. Thursday, Dec. 5, House Republicans blocked two separate Democratic resolutions to release the report, voting to refer the matter back to the committee.
Lawmakers voted along almost entirely party lines to table an effort from Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) to force the report’s immediate release, saying the former Florida congressman is no longer under the House’s jurisdiction because he resigned.
Gaetz left Congress last month after President-elect Donald Trump announced he was nominating the Republican lawmaker to become the nation’s next attorney general. That all happened just days before the ethics report was supposed to be released.
Gaetz later withdrew from consideration for the job after it became clear he would not get the Senate support needed to win confirmation, amid allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor and illicit drug use. He’s also denied those allegations.
Another effort by Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee was also blocked.
Casten blasted the House’s decision in a statement after the vote, saying, “Today, the majority of the House of Representatives took the easy way out. They could have ensured a vote on whether or not former members should be held accountable when they face serious and credible allegations of sexual misconduct — including having sex with minors. Instead, the House voted to sweep these allegations under the rug and set an unfortunate precedent that, if you are ever facing scrutiny, resigning from Congress can make your problems go away.”
Casten added he will continue to try to get the report released.
Tonight the House of Representatives voted to sweep credible allegations of sexual misconduct under the rug.
I retain options to pursue the release of the Gaetz Report.
Congressman Michael Guest (R-MS), the committee chairman, said there no longer is the same urgency to release the report because Gaetz has left Congress and stepped aside as Trump’s choice to head the Justice Department.
Elon Musk spent more than $250 million getting Trump re-elected
Billionaire Elon Musk spent almost a quarter of a billion dollars in supporting Donald Trump’s reelection, according to Federal Election Commission filings released late Thursday, Dec. 5. While that accounts for just a fraction of Musk’s wealth as the richest man in the world, it’s a massive amount to come from just one single donor.
Musk donated most of that money to his America PAC, making three donations of $25 million each in the final weeks of the race. Over the course of the campaign, he gave America PAC a total of $239 million in cash and in-kind contributions.
Musk also spent more than $40 million on checks to voters in swing states who signed a petition in support of the Constitution.
According to the filings, Musk also put $20 million into a PAC named after the late liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That PAC was behind political ads claiming Trump does not support a federal abortion ban and he and Ginsburg had that in common.
New images released as manhunt continues in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing
Police have released new information about the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as the manhunt continues for the gunman. Investigators released new images Thursday of a hooded man who they say is “a person of interest” wanted for questioning in the slaying of the health insurance executive.
Police sources confirmed to multiple news outlets the images were taken from a surveillance camera inside a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Officials said the man used a fake New Jersey ID to check into the hostel.
The sources said the suspect is believed to have traveled from Atlanta to New York City on a Greyhound bus the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, then later checked in to the hostel. Greyhound is reportedly cooperating with the investigation.
The gunman shot Thompson multiple times at point-blank range as he was walking into a New York City Hilton hotel. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities said the shooting was “premeditated” and a “brazen, targeted attack.”
According to multiple reports, the bullet casings located at the scene had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on them. The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered.
Police are still searching for a motive in the deadly shooting.
Aftershocks rock California after magnitude 7 earthquake
Dozens of aftershocks have been reported in California after a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake rattled a large part of the west coast Thursday. The epicenter of the earthquake was around 50 miles southwest of the northern port city Eureka in the Pacific Ocean.
A tsunami warning briefly went into effect from Oregon down to central California, but that has since been canceled. Evacuation orders have also been lifted.
California’s governor signed a state of emergency and said damage assessments are underway. So far, only minor damage and no injuries have been reported.
NASA delays next two manned moon missions
We’ve waited decades to see an astronaut walk on the moon again, and now, we’ll have to wait a little longer.
NASA announced Thursday it is delaying its next two Artemis moon missions to address an issue with the Orion crew capsule that will be housing the astronauts and its heat shield. The agency said the Artemis II mission that will fly a crew around the moon has been pushed from September of this year to no earlier than April of 2026.
The Artemis III mission, which will see the first moon landing in more than 50 years, set for 2026 will now happen no earlier than mid-2027.
Taylor Swift’s recording-breaking Eras tour ends this weekend
The tour kicked off in March of last year with Swift putting on the 3.5-hour concert more than 150 times in front of sold-out crowds across five continents.
USSS chief says lawmaker politicized 9/11 during Trump assassination hearing
The final Congressional hearing on the assassination attempts on President-elect Donald Trump devolved into a screaming match regarding this year’s 9/11 remembrance ceremony. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, accused acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe of putting the lives of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump at risk by attending the memorial ceremony as an agency representative rather than being on duty.
“Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!” Rowe erupted.
“I’m not. I’m invoking -” Fallon replied.
“You are, sir. You are way out of line!” Rowe said.
Heated exchange between @RepPatFallon and U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Rowe.
Rowe: "Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!"
The men continued even as the chairman of the taskforce tried to maintain order.
“You know why you were there, because you wanted to be visible because you’re auditioning for this job that you’re not going to get,” Fallon shouted.
“I was there to pay respect to a fallen member of this agency,” Rowe yelled back.
During the hearing, Rowe presented Congress with multiple changes he’s making to the agency in order to improve protection.
The changes include the creation of a leadership development program. Rowe said they need to identify agents who will make good leaders before they get promoted to GS-15, which is the highest level a federal employee can reach before moving to an executive position.
“We need to hit people and identify leaders earlier on, besides just saying, ‘Well, they’ve been here for 18 years, let’s make them a GS-15’,” Rowe said.
Rowe will also increase training hours for agents so that it’s “routine and expected.” He says this will be a culture change for agents.
“Somehow, along the way, we became disproportionately operational in comparison to time allocated for training,” Rowe explained.
Rowe is also moving the office of investigations into the office of field operations, which he said will increase the role of field offices for planning.
“The Secret Service historically has had to manage its operations by doing more with less. It is not consistent with achieving a no fail mission,” Rowe said.
Trump will have the authority to appoint a new Secret Service director when he takes office in January. Rowe has been serving in an acting capacity since the resignation of Kimberly Cheatle in July.
Congress working to spare Medicare telehealth coverage before it expires
More than 65 million Americans rely on Medicare. However, without action from Congress, they’ll be losing a major benefit at the end of the year: telehealth.
A provision meant to be temporary allowing Medicare to cover telehealth for all medical specialties will expire at the end of 2024. When it does, telehealth for most specialties will no longer be covered.
It’s currently part of a policy change made at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services temporarily expanded telehealth coverage in March 2020. Congress passed a two-year extension in 2022.
Members of Congress have introduced multiple bills to preserve telehealth coverage. None have come to a vote yet in the House or Senate.
But for those looking for an extension, there are signs for optimism from across Washington.
In a stop at a hospital in upstate New York last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Medicare telehealth coverage needs to stay.
One bill in the House, the Telehealth Modernization Act from Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., has strong bipartisan support from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Carter told progressive news outlet Mother Jones that his bill is “critical legislation that will extend telehealth flexibilities to get Medicare beneficiaries the life-saving health care they need.”
Healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente also issued a statement in November 2024 saying it favors an extension to Medicare’s telehealth coverage.
Medicare patient advocates still have some concerns. Mother Jones reports they’re hoping Congress can ensure providers won’t use telehealth availability to provide lower-quality care or cut back on accessibility measures.
Congress may still include language governing telehealth into one of its large year-end must-pass spending bills to avoid a government shutdown.
Trump cabinet picks, Connecticut lawmakers targeted in bomb threats
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, multiple Cabinet picks for President-elect Donald Trump and several Democratic members of Congress were targeted with bomb threats and “swatting” incidents. Swatting involves falsely reporting emergencies to police in an attempt to get a SWAT team to respond to a location where no emergency exists.
Among those targeted was Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who has been nominated by Trump to serve as ambassador to the United Nations. Stefanik, who was driving home to New York from Washington on Thanksgiving, learned of a bomb threat at her residence.
Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, tapped by Trump to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, said in a social media post that a pipe bomb threat targeting him and his family was sent with a pro-Palestinian-themed message. Zeldin added that he and his family were not at home at the time and were safe.
A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message. My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops. We are thankful for the swift…
Pete Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer and Fox News host selected by Trump for secretary of defense, posted on X Thanksgiving morning, saying a police officer arrived at his home, where his seven children were still sleeping. Hegseth said the officer notified him and his wife of a credible pipe bomb threat targeting their family.
This morning, a police officer arrived at our home—where our seven children were still sleeping. The officer notified my wife and I that they had received a credible pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family. We are all safe and the threat has been cleared. We want to thank law…
The FBI launched an investigation into these threats, and a spokesperson said the agency is working with multiple law enforcement agencies across the country to track down those responsible.
While law enforcement investigates, a series of other incidents unfolded in Connecticut. Bomb threats were reported against several Democratic members of Congress on Thursday, Nov. 29. Reps. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., Jim Himes, D-Conn., and John Larson, D-Conn., all reported bomb threats at their homes in Connecticut.
Himes said in a statement that police found no evidence of a bomb during their search of his home.
Hayes released a statement saying that police had been notified of a threat involving a pipe bomb in her mailbox, but no bomb was found.
“There is no place in our country for political violence,” she added.
Local and federal authorities continue to investigate these incidents. As of now, the FBI has not confirmed whether the threats targeting Trump’s Cabinet nominees are connected to those aimed at the Connecticut lawmakers.